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Katsura Imperial Villa
The is an Imperial residence with associated gardens and outbuildings in the western suburbs of Kyoto, Japan. Located on the western bank of the Katsura River in Katsura, Nishikyō-ku, the Villa is 8km distant from the main Kyoto Imperial Palace. The villa and gardens are nationally recognized as an Important Cultural Property of Japan. The grounds of the villa are regarded as a notable exemplar of traditional Japanese gardening. Tea ceremony houses within the strolling gardens and the main villa itself are all sited to maximize appreciation of varied foliage and changing seasonal vistas. The palace originally belonged to the prince of the ''Hachijō-no-miya'' (八条宮) family. The Imperial Household Agency currently administers the site. Although the Imperial Villa itself is not open to visitors, public tours of the gardens are available by appointment. History The Katsura district of Kyoto has long been favored for villas, and in the Heian period, Fujiwara no Mich ...
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Japanese Garden
are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden designers to suggest a natural landscape, and to express the fragility of existence as well as time's unstoppable advance. Ancient Japanese art inspired past garden designers. Water is an important feature of many gardens, as are rocks and often gravel. Despite there being many attractive Japanese flowering plants, herbaceous flowers generally play much less of a role in Japanese gardens than in the West, though seasonally flowering shrubs and trees are important, all the more dramatic because of the contrast with the usual predominant green. Evergreen plants are "the bones of the garden" in Japan. Though a natural-seeming appearance is the aim, Japanese gardeners often shape their plants, including trees, with great rigour. Japanese literatur ...
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Tokugawa Masako
, also known as Kazu-ko, was empress consort of Japan as the wife of Emperor Go-Mizunoo. Through collaboration with her parents, Oeyo and Shogun Tokugawa Hidetada, she was a prominent and influential figure within the politics and culture of the Edo Period. History * 1620 (''Genna 6''): Masako entered the palace as a consort of Emperor Go-Mizunoo. Although there was already a concubine for Go-Mizunoo, the marriage to Masako was celebrated with great pomp. * 1624: Masako was granted the title of chūgū (中宮), indicating that she was a legitimate wife and therefore an established Empress Consort. She is the first consort to hold this title since the reign of Emperor Go-Hanazono. * 1629: When the Emperor Go-Mizunoo abdicated in 1629, Masako took the title and name of .Ponsonby-Fane, p. 115. In a rare break with tradition, Masako's daughter, Imperial Princess Onna-Ichi-no-miya Okiko, succeeded her father in her own right as Empress Meishō, albeit at the age of five.Ponsonby- ...
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Irimoya
The East Asian hip-and-gable roof (''Xiēshān'' (歇山) in Chinese, ''Paljakjibung'' (팔작지붕) in Korean and ''Irimoya'' (入母屋) in Japanese) also known as 'resting hill roof', consists of a hip roof that slopes down on all four sides and integrates a gable on two opposing sides. It is usually constructed with two large sloping roof sections in the front and back respectively, while each of the two sides is usually constructed with a smaller roof section. The style is Chinese in origin, and has spread across much of East and Continental Asia. The original Chinese style and similar styles are not only found in the traditional architectures of Japan, Korea, and Vietnam but also other countries such as Mongolia, Buryatia, Kalmykia, Tuva, Bhutan, and Tibet, and even South Asian countries like India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. A similar, generally taller and originally thatched hip and gable style is also traditionally used in Southeast Asia such as in the Philippines and in I ...
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Katsura Rikyu (3264662094)
The is an Imperial residence with associated gardens and outbuildings in the western suburbs of Kyoto, Japan. Located on the western bank of the Katsura River in Katsura, Nishikyō-ku, the Villa is 8km distant from the main Kyoto Imperial Palace. The villa and gardens are nationally recognized as an Important Cultural Property of Japan. The grounds of the villa are regarded as a notable exemplar of traditional Japanese gardening. Tea ceremony houses within the strolling gardens and the main villa itself are all sited to maximize appreciation of varied foliage and changing seasonal vistas. The palace originally belonged to the prince of the ''Hachijō-no-miya'' (八条宮) family. The Imperial Household Agency currently administers the site. Although the Imperial Villa itself is not open to visitors, public tours of the gardens are available by appointment. History The Katsura district of Kyoto has long been favored for villas, and in the Heian period, Fujiwara no Michina ...
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Tokonoma
A , or simply , is a recessed space in a Japanese-style reception room, in which items for artistic appreciation are displayed. In English, a could be called an Alcove (architecture), alcove. History There are two theories about the predecessor of : the first is that it derives from the room structure of the , which flourished in the Heian period (794–1185) and declined in the Muromachi period (1336–1573); the second is that it derives from the room structure of Zen monasteries in the Kamakura period (1185–1333). In the room of the monastery, there was a board called which displayed Buddhist altar fittings such as candlesticks, incense burners and vases. On the wall behind was a hanging scroll with a Buddhist theme. The second theory is that the and the back wall developed into a -style in the Muromachi period. In , an architectural style developed in the Muromachi period, came to be used as room decoration, and the owner of the house sat in front of decorated wi ...
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Fusuma
In Japanese architecture, are vertical rectangular panels which can slide from side to side to redefine spaces within a room, or act as doors. They typically measure about wide by tall, the same size as a ''tatami'' mat, and are thick. The heights of ''fusuma'' have increased in recent years due to an increase in average height of the Japanese population, and a height is now common. In older constructions, they are as small as high. They consist of a lattice-like wooden understructure covered in cardboard and a layer of paper or cloth on both sides. They typically have a black lacquer border and a round finger catch. Historically, ''fusuma'' were painted, often with scenes from nature such as mountains, forests or animals. Today, many feature plain mulberry paper, or have industrially-printed graphics of fans, autumn leaves, cherry blossom, trees, or geometric graphics. Patterns for children featuring popular characters can also be purchased. Both ''fusuma'' and ''sh ...
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Shōji
A is a door, window or room divider used in traditional Japanese architecture, consisting of Transparency and translucency, translucent (or transparent) sheets on a lattice frame. Where light transmission is not needed, the similar but opaque ''fusuma'' is used (/closet doors, for instance). Shoji usually slide, but may occasionally be hung or hinged, especially in more rustic styles. Shoji are very lightweight, so they are easily slid aside, or taken off their tracks and stored in a closet, opening the room to other rooms or the outside. Fully traditional buildings may have only one large room, under a roof supported by a post-and-lintel frame, with few or no permanent interior or exterior walls; the space is flexibly subdivided as needed by the removable sliding wall panels. The posts are generally placed one ''tatami''-length (about ) apart, and the shoji slide in two parallel wood-groove tracks between them. In modern construction, the shoji often do not form the exterio ...
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Tatami
are soft mats used as flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. They are made in standard sizes, twice as long as wide, about , depending on the region. In martial arts, tatami are used for training in a dojo and for competition. Tatami are covered with a weft-faced weave of on a warp of hemp or weaker cotton. There are four warps per weft shed, two at each end (or sometimes two per shed, one at each end, to reduce cost). The (core) is traditionally made from sewn-together rice straw, but contemporary tatami sometimes have compressed wood chip boards or extruded polystyrene foam in their cores instead or as well. The long sides are usually with brocade or plain cloth, although some tatami have no edging. File:Modern tatami.JPG, Machine-sewing of tatami File:Tatami sectional view.jpg, Cross-section of a modern tatami with an extruded polystyrene foam core File:Men Making Tatami Mats, 1860 - ca. 1900.jpg, Making tatami mats, late 19th century. File:Tatami.jpg, ...
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Katsura Rikyu (3264778634)
The is an Imperial residence with associated gardens and outbuildings in the western suburbs of Kyoto, Japan. Located on the western bank of the Katsura River in Katsura, Nishikyō-ku, the Villa is 8km distant from the main Kyoto Imperial Palace. The villa and gardens are nationally recognized as an Important Cultural Property of Japan. The grounds of the villa are regarded as a notable exemplar of traditional Japanese gardening. Tea ceremony houses within the strolling gardens and the main villa itself are all sited to maximize appreciation of varied foliage and changing seasonal vistas. The palace originally belonged to the prince of the ''Hachijō-no-miya'' (八条宮) family. The Imperial Household Agency currently administers the site. Although the Imperial Villa itself is not open to visitors, public tours of the gardens are available by appointment. History The Katsura district of Kyoto has long been favored for villas, and in the Heian period, Fujiwara no Michina ...
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Shinto Shrine
A Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxiii is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more kami, , the deities of the Shinto religion. The Also called the . is where a shrine's patron is or are enshrined.Iwanami Japanese dictionary The may be absent in cases where a shrine stands on or near a sacred mountain, tree, or other object which can be worshipped directly or in cases where a shrine possesses either an altar-like structure, called a himorogi, , or an object believed to be capable of attracting spirits, called a yorishiro, , which can also serve as direct bonds to a . There may be a and other structures as well. Although only one word ("shrine") is used in English, in Japanese, Shinto shrines may carry any one of many different, non-equivalent names like , , , , , , , , , or . Miniature shrines (hokora, ) can occasionally be found on roadsides. Large shrines sometimes have on their precincts miniature shrines, or . Because the and once had differe ...
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Shinto
, also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintoists'', although adherents rarely use that term themselves. With no central authority in control of Shinto, there is much diversity of belief and practice evident among practitioners. A polytheism, polytheistic and animism, animistic religion, Shinto revolves around supernatural entities called the (神). The are believed to inhabit all things, including forces of nature and prominent landscape locations. The are worshipped at household shrines, family shrines, and Shinto shrine, ''jinja'' public shrines. The latter are staffed by priests, known as , who oversee offerings of food and drink to the specific enshrined at that location. This is done to cultivate harmony ...
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World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ...
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